"My job, my mission, the reason I've been put on this planet, is to save wildlife." -Steve Irwin

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We recently saw Disney Nature’s newest documentary titled Monkey Kingdom, and it was pretty good. What I loved about this film that was different than previous Disney Nature pics was that they showed the interaction between the monkeys and their human neighbors. As humans develop more and more into previously wild areas, there will inevitably be some overlap. You get to see the difference in how they live between their wild home, and the one in the big city. Their sleeping habits are affected, their diets, and even their social structure. Narrated by Tina Fey, it had the typical style of other Disney Nature documentaries where the subjects are named, and the events take place from a particular animal’s perspective, in this case, an adult female monkey low in the social order. It follows the amazing journey of these monkeys from their home territory, to the big city, and back, and the female monkeys journey from the bottom to the top of the social hierarchy. I recommend this movie to both adults and children looking to learn more about nature and get a good story at the same time.

Such a precious little fox! When she was very young, Dawn the fox was found by some people who, thinking she was a puppy, took her to a dog rescue. By the time she was old enough that someone realized she was a fox, it was too late. She was already habituated. Luckily, she was able to be relocated to a wildlife sanctuary to live with others of her own kind.

Foxes, and similar wildlife like raccoons and bears, can easily habituate to humans. They quickly learn who is feeding them and taking care of them. Unfortunately, not all humans are good, so when these habituated animals go up to a bad human in the wild, it can mean bad-news-bears for them. So if you ever see an injured animal, never try to take care of it yourself, take it to the nearest licensed wildlife rehabilitator. This link will take you to a site of rehabilitators listed by state.

It was hard to write this week’s Weird Wildlife Wednesday because we have just moved and our internet isn’t set up yet. Luckily, there is a Starbucks with wifi next door to us and our internet will be set up by the end of the day!

Anyway, this week’s bizarre animal is the Dumbo Octopus (Grimpoteuthis). This guy sure is a cutey. They live in the extreme depths of the ocean and hover right above the sea floor. The Dumbo Octopus isn’t just one species, it is a group of species ranging in size from 8 inches to over 6 feet long. They pounce down onto their prey which consists of isopods, bristle worms, etc. They have unusual reproduction characteristics and it is thought that the female can store sperm and continuously lay eggs with no specific breeding season. They use little mantle fins, which look like dumbo ears, to move around in the deep dark highly pressurized ocean. They have been found many places throughout the world but because they live so deep and are rarely seen, there isn’t a lot of information about their population status.